STYLE

STYLE; Surfing Gauguin

By Catherine Saint Louis

Published: July 4, 2004

The director Stacy Peralta says that America has the wrong idea about surfers. They aren't the good-for-nothing bums that Hollywood has made them out to be. Nor are they the outcasts parents pegged them as in the early 70's, when Peralta was growing up in Santa Monica, Calif. On the heels of the success of his skateboard documentary, ''Dogtown and the Z-Boys,'' Peralta set out to square the record. Opening wide this week, his film ''Riding Giants'' traces the history of surfing back to its Polynesian roots and introduces us to such big-wave pioneers as the charismatic Greg (the Bull) Noll and the quietly intense loner Jeff Clark, as well as the omnipresent Laird Hamilton. The first documentary ever to kick off Sundance, ''Giants'' won the audience over with its infectious appeal. No small feat -- considering that once you've seen a few dramatic 30-footers, what's left? And yet, there is this curious tug, probably how the surfers feel themselves, that there's something to be learned from the force of nature.

What stereotypes about surfing did you want to correct?

I was hoping that the general public would finally view surfers as adventurers, as iconoclasts. Hollywood has given us the goofy essence of what they think surfing is: guys sitting on the beach all day playing guitar. But in fact, surfers are drawn to the ocean just like an artist is drawn to a canvas or a man is drawn to climbing Mount Everest.

What's the biggest wave you've ever ridden?

It would be what a surfer would consider a 10-foot wave, which is an 18-foot face wave. Bigger than I'll ride again. In order to ride big waves, you have to train hard all year round. These guys maybe get 5 to 6 days of this a year, and the other 360 they are prepping. You live your life by it, but it also drives you insane. If you have to be somewhere, and there are waves, it eats away at you. It took me decades to get that out of my system.

Your film recounts the deaths of a few big-wave surfers and some close calls. How do you continue after such spills?

Dave Kalama had an experience two years ago. He said he felt he was surfing the best he'd ever surfed, and he took a wipeout where he was held underwater so long that his body started to go into convulsions. And he thought, That's it. At the final moment, he did get one breath of air, and it kept him alive. After that, it took him two years, and he still isn't surfing as good as he was. But they are very alive, these guys.

Do you think it's because of their proximity to death?

I don't think they are doing it for the proximity to death. There is something intoxicating about it. It requires 100 percent of who you are. If I go out in four-foot waves, I can be thinking about problems in my life. When you go out in waves that are 20 or 30 feet where you can do serious damage to yourself, all these guys say it cuts the chatter in your head.

Has surfing become more or less dangerous?

If you look at the way the guys at Maverick surf, they have to paddle themselves out there [45 minutes from San Francisco] and sit in that danger zone waiting for waves. And if a bigger set comes through when they aren't prepared, it mows them down. Now guys like Laird Hamilton get towed into a wave; they've overcome the limitations and dangers of having to paddle out. The problem is now they are riding the biggest waves that Mother Nature can offer. So the danger is increasing exponentially.

What do you make of all the surfing fashion?

It has no real connection to the lifestyle that created it. America does this to every culture, everything from rap music to skateboarding to golf; it always becomes commodified.

One of the purest moments of my entire life was age 16 to 17.

I wasn't a man yet, but wasn't a teenager any longer. What I did then was surf. I didn't have any goals or net worth. I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was every day I'd get up, look at the palm trees, see what the wind was doing, go to the beach and look at the texture of the water. That simplicity is something that I can't repeat. Catherine Saint Louis

Photos: Kelly Slater, 32 and a six-time world champion (opposite), has been surfing in Fiji since 1990 and was recently awarded the tooth of a sperm whale -- which is like the key to the city. ''Each village has one or two of them. They actually gave me two.'' Banana Republic pants, $68. Quiksilver shoes.; Danny Fuller, 22 (this page), is from Hawaii and has been sponsored by Quiksilver since he was 10. ''All my best friends who I grew up with are doing the same thing as me.'' Tommy Jeans shirt, $60. www.tommy.com. Quiksilver jeans and belt. Styled by Robert E. Bryan.; Amelia (left) and Koko, Fijian sisters, model Vince cotton tank tops, $60 each. At Scoop stores. IISLI cotton shorts (left), $145, and ruffle panties. Shorts at Saks Fifth Avenue. J. Crew flip-flops.; Keith Malloy, 30, who follows the surf, along with his two brothers, admits, ''When the surf gets to a certain size, I don't care who you are: you're going to be scared.'' H Hilfiger light blue linen shirt, $89.50. www.h-hilfiger.com. Patagonia pants. Nixon watch.; C. J. Hobgood, 24 (left), who won the Billabong Pro in May, says the best thing about having a brother on the pro tour ''is that he tells you if you're blowing it.'' His twin, Damien Hobgood, winner of the Quiksilver Pro, says that they don't hang out much off the circuit: ''If we did, we'd be at each other's throats.'' From left: Polo by Ralph Lauren linen shirt, $97.50. www.polo.com. Rusty board shorts. Globe sandals. IISLI cashmere cardigan sweater, $325, and skirt, $185. At Saks Fifth Avenue. Oakley board shorts and sunglasses (on head). J. Crew flip-flops.; Malia Jones, 27, a surfer and a model, is married to another pro surfer, Conan Hayes. IISLI viscose sequined tank top, $315. At Saks Fifth Avenue.; Apisai, a native of Fiji, wears a Kenneth Cole New York linen-and-cotton shirt, $69. At Bloomingdale's. Macy's West. Buli necklace. Wau throwing club. Magi Magi belt. Sulu skirt.; Bruce Irons, 24, aspires to the title held by his older brother, Andy: current world champion. Salvatore Ferragamo tuxedo shirt, $220. At Salvatore Ferragamo stores. Volcom T-shirt. (Photographs by Robert Maxwell)